The weirdness of religion

[LadyPSerenity]

While I believe in a creator, I believe in heaven and hell.

There is something else I believe. The bible... is more powerful than it every should be... IT's a book of stories. That's what it is. It's like a fairy tale - Not necessarily true stories or stories of which expansions have been made.
Then add in different translations and we end up with our fish tale. The fish was soooo big... and then the fish was sooooooooooooo big...

Anyway, Regligion as always should be something you find with yourself. No preacher or anything of the like should -force- you into nothing.
IT's guidance they should offer, and it's tolerance they should give if/when a different path is chosen.

Something neglected in today's society - Tolerance.

Catholic is HEAVY very strict - No drinking, no sex till after marriage, no divorce, no marriage to another of a different religion. Very strict

Roman Catholic is like Catholic light - Same principles but they're not going to throw you out of the church if you break one.

Born Again Christain from what I know they are more towards encouraging the prasing and singing of god's name rather than worrying about things like divorce and the like... if you believe your sins are forgiven. But they are preacherous in that they will not call you a Born Again Christain if you do not attend Church.

Anyway... that's what I know - it's limited and some of it might not be 100% accurate but as always I enjoy throwing in my 2cents and I like learning about other religions...

[shi_amai]

Yeah, one thing I hated about some churchs here is they would walk to our door and shove their beliefs upon us. That's just wrong.

Being a Wiccan, I believe in the All. I believe in power of the nature, and loving of the nature, and animals. It talks about and Goddess and God, too, but sometimes when I read about it it doesn't make sense to me, entirely. I don't believe in hell. Trust me, religion is going to be a weird and confusing thing, but it's what you believe, whatever it may be.

[Zedekiah]

Walking into a church is pretty much like walking into someone's home. In this case, the religion's home.

And just like a radical activist, be it left or right, would eagerly entice you in political debates, you should expect to be confronted with the religion that belongs to the church you're entering. If you have a strong dislike for World Religions whose goal is indeed to convert the entire world (such as Christianity and Islam), just stay out of their holy houses and you'll be fine.

[Life & Death]

Well, as far as my opinion goes...actually I guess I really don't have one. I am not Christian or Catholic, and to be honest the Christian belief does not confuse me because I really do not pay that much attention to it. I am not trying to be rude or anything, but Christianity is not solely what I believe, so I really can't say it is confusing because I have nothing to base it on. However, I think all religions have something that is going to be confusing to others...especially if you do not practice a particular such religion. I do have a certain respect for other religions, but my beliefs are just that, my beliefs and if someone finds it confusing I just smile and nod and say, yes maybe to you, but not to me ^_~

Luv Angel Eyes

P.S. My apologies if I offended anyone. It was not my intention ^^

your right it is confusing and it requirs some time to wrap your mind around it

[[BlackDeath]]

To me, religion is nothing more than a fictitious belief for people to cling to and have faith in, makes them feel better that there is some higher and all powerful being watching over them and protecting all that's good in the world. Is a way of hiding an insecurity.

[akiko_kalla]

oh, ok.^_^ but then again, if you have strong faith in God, you wouldn't ask those things at all........

Why not? If you believe in God as your creator, God gave you a brain and the ability to question the world around you. I would think God would want you to find the truth and if you just take what others tell you as fact, you won't find anything except blind ignorance. I would think God would expect you to question things so the truths that you found would lead back to God, thus strengthening your faith in him.

Personally, I don't find Christianity confusing but I do find quite a few contradictions. I find it fascinating to read about various religions however. For example:

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..." (Gen 1:26) but then later, after resting on the seventh day says, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground...and man became a living soul" (Gen 2:7)

Everyone who has studied Christianity knows about God creating Adam and then Eve, but what about man? Man was created before Adam and moreover he created man male and female. I love to discuss the finer points of religions, but as far as religion itself I find them pretty much the same. They are there for the people. People need something to hold on to, something to bring them together to solidify their faith. And that's not a bad thing unless they stop questioning the validity of their beliefs. I don't mean you go in and ask yourself why you follow this religion, but you SHOULD ask yourself if this aspect of it rings true for you. Does it fit with the other things you have learned and truths you have found within this religion. Once people hand the reigns over to others to question and find the truth, they become blind to their own beliefs. Discussion and questions are quite healthy, unless of course you are the one trying to control others with fear or ego. (And I'm not saying this is the case with you, just in general) Ultimately, the greatest advancements in humanity have come from the questioning of old ideas and beliefs. It is human nature to question.

[Lon]

....Gods been downsized we're on our own.

I have a serious reply for this thread. but it will take more time than the five minutes I have to type. So I'll just use this as a place holder until tonight when I can give a more educated reply.

[SGI]

As some people know and others would be surprised to know, I’m a Christian who doesn’t go to church, and I have my reasons for it.

1.) I can’t choose a denomination, since I’m well aware of the history behind the big three churches (Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican), I just can’t carry their beliefs because I will always wonder whether these deep rooted beliefs were built on some old political agenda.
2.) I quite simply don’t trust these “New Churches” such as Hillsong, they just give me a serious case of the willies.
3.) As for Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons, don’t get me started, because I know if I delve into them I WILL offend somebody. Big time.

As for the question of creation, I believe that the creation of life from nothing is something we just simply cannot comprehend. We are all led to believe we came from something, who’s not to say that life just always was? Seriously, the concept of an absolute nothingness cannot exist in my mind (Yes I know that is something of a contradiction, no need to point it out).

As for the bible, we all know how cryptic and non-literal writing was in those days, and I think that it should never be taken literally, if you believe as I do that it’s God’s word, we need to remember that those words were interpreted by their writers as they wrote it, what God may have said was quite possibly changed. (Plus the writer of Leviticus was one angry, angry person).

That’s all I have to say on the topic right now.

[Darth Tyranus]

Religions having plot holes is nothing new, and that what created the creator idea has literally been around forever and can be applied to any and every religion involving a creator. And it's fair to say the bible has equal part historical accuracy as it does pizza. For starters there were never any Jews in Egypt making that whole story untrue. It is said the Christian god is a kind and loving god but he is also a vengeful god. Sound like anybody?

If you said everyone you're right. God is supposed to be perfect an infallible being. But he acts just like a human being. And if you buy in the bible people are sin ridden monsters rolling around in their own filth. So what sets god apart? Not to mention he breaks one of his own rules, he commits the sin wrath on a regular basis, like when he slaughtered all the first born in Egypt. Now that's a kind and loving god.

God isn't real he never was and never will be. And the best part about this is you can't prove me wrong. God is just a test of faith, so you have no science to actually back up any of the things the bible says. I can't help but be reminded of one of my favorite nine inch nail songs.

"Your god is dead and no one cares if there is a hell I'll see you there."-Heresy

[Faceless111]

God isn't real he never was and never will be. And the best part about this is you can't prove me wrong. God is just a test of faith, so you have no science to actually back up any of the things the bible says. I can't help but be reminded of one of my favorite nine inch nail songs.

Yeah, but you can't prove yourself right. It's all belief. If you believe in God, it's just belief. If you don't, it's still a belief. Sure you can argue that you're right, but that won't make you right. Religion is based on faith and that includes atheists.

[Darth Tyranus]

Just knowing I'm right is enough for me, I can't disprove god but i don't really need to. Most religions do a good enough job of showing how insane they are all by themselfs.

[Faceless111]

Just knowing I'm right is enough for me, I can't disprove god but i don't really need to. Most religions do a good enough job of showing how insane they are all by themselfs.

True enough, still no one can know for certain until they die. I actually hope Buddhism is the right religion. That'd be sweet. But I won't know until I die and burn in hell.

[animeseishi]

well so do i... i respect other religions ...i too get confused with scientific reasonings and with what the bible says..

[shi_amai]

Just knowing I'm right is enough for me, I can't disprove god but i don't really need to. Most religions do a good enough job of showing how insane they are all by themselfs.

Okay, you can say your beliefs, but kindly don't tell someone theirs are wrong.

Moving along. I think just have faith in what you believe, and that's all that matters. Religion may often be confusing, but what someone believes is what someone believes, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, though I don't think people should hate others for not believing the same, as I often see this in the world. I wish everyone could just get along. ;_;

[Naberius The Slayer]

I have my own set of beliefs that doesn't have too much to do with most religions,there are so many religions and spin offs.I've been to several different churches,conversed with many different ppl of many different beliefs.From Catholic,different branches of Christianity,Mormons and evan the Pentecostals.All are very different and are quarrelsome among each other,and all say that you are going to hell if you aren't like them.Pretty much a deadly conundrum,is it some sort of religious Russian roulette that us humans have to play?
Then by that could I safely say that it is all by luck that by witch we enter heaven or hell made upon our luck,or is it just a matter of that there is NO wrong way as long as you are the best person you can be??
A for the question of what I believe,I believe in my own thing.Since I was never comfortable in joining one or another,being dissatisfied with contradictions within beliefs and at times insane rules that are just plain ridiculous I had an idea and was happy with the end result.I pretty much took parts of different religions,I borrowed pretty heavily on Paganism,a bit from Wiccan,and shards and pieces from alot of other religions and put them together.

I believe in a Trinity,three pieces of a single creator.Symbols of mine I guess are some of my favorites, like the Pentacle,the Triforce,the Cross in all its forms and a Crescent Moon.Eclectic I know and possibly looked at oddly,it has various forms of worship and prayer.Things from just preying with incense and candle light to full circle casting and use of mental invocation, I like to feel some sort of Majik in the air to make my faith comfortable,fun and unlike the
humdrum of my everyday life.I also feel very spiritual and happy doing this,it also gives me hope and that I'm loved by a higher power or powers.
Therefore I do not believe this to be wrong,I am now comfortable in a belief evan though I had to kinda make my own.

[poppy]

im an atheist i really have no right to talk about religion or have opinions on it but i was i a catholic prim school for 3 years and now i have to do religion as a subject not just like this is what everyone 1 in the room belives except poppy (acusatory glance from the teacher) it really is confused the bible was written by 100 dif people or something and who knows where they got it all from (yeah i know god told them)

[Kurama_the_spirit_fox]

i was raised as a Christian but i think several of their beliefs is a bunch of bull so im not one anymore. if you dont like my comment, sew me for having an opinion. in my religion there is no higher power. i worship knowone. i do think the devil exists though but i dont count him as a higher power. i dont think heaven and hell exists. i think that when we die we go to one of hundreds of spiritual worlds. i believe in spirit worlds and demon worlds. and yes i do believe in dragons, wherewolves, vampires, ect. just that they only exist spiritualy not physically. and theres a separate world for each of them. i strongly believe in spiritual things. i use an ouija board, black mirrors, i use black and white magic *but only when nesasary* i write hexes *bad at it though* i believe that i am a gold dragon traped in a human body. i use Astral Projection when your spirit leaves your body and actually go to those spirit realms. *your body is in a coma during this and many other people can perform this action. its also been scientifically proven that people can do this. your either born with it, or it takes years to learn* i summon spirits and so on. and please dont critisize me for my beliefs. im merely just a mix of several religions for i only believe in what i want to believe in. not what im told.

and for the guy who said their religion is right, prove it. you cant prove god exists unless one: your dead and two: your older then the planet.

[RichardE40k]

I hate the whole system. I was brought up as free choice, I was christened as a protestant (Church Of England, Created when our king Henry Tudor broke away from the pope who refused to allow Henry the 8th to have a divorce, so if you don’t like the way things work, create you’re own strain of religion!). Anyway I respect the bible but oh god it's the most hypocritical thing I have ever read. I just dislike its views so I just try to be the best person I can and I only believe in god, that's it. I prefer the idea of Yin and Yang. Everything in the world needs balance and religion for me always tipped the scale, now what I mean by the whole system. IS that whatever you say or do you are offending some religion somewhere, that is a fact for most cases. I just dislike how the powers to be use religion as an excuse for war and controversy between its people. I'm done ^^.

[kakashiskitty]

ya u guys are right it doesnt really make sense

[RichardE40k]

What annoys me most is that everyone slays Jesus and the Christian faith nowadays, cartoons, music and films. But you say something funny about another religion you get slandered, I HATE political correctness. It has screwed up England terrible. I mean thousands of Muslims are protesting over the cartoons drawn over Mohammed, if people can have a joke about one religion, all should be included. It’s just like whether you call someone deaf or “sound disabled” they still can’t hear what you are saying. It’s really patronising as if people with problems or people from a certain race/culture cant look after themselves, it really makes me sick and its just so stupid.

[Ami~chan]

I don't take part of religion; I'm not Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Wicca, or anything. I believe that there is a higher power, but I refuse to stick one label or one groups' enterpritation to that. I don't believe you have to accept that someone died for you, or you have to sacrifice something (whether it be a chicken or some sinful habit) in order to make a place for yourself in the afterlife, if there is one.

To put it in a nutshell: I worry about what happens while I'm here on Earth, and alive. I worry about what is going on in life. I attempt to be a decent and moral person, and try not to worry about what some higher power thinks of me. I'm very laid back; I'll be crossing bridges when I get to them.

But I'm very open-minded; I try never to down someone elses religion, because I that is there belief. They choose to believe however they want to. Nothing shocks me; one could tell me that they sacrifice a package of M&M's once a week to their god, whose name is "JHDShdjs", and I'd be totally fine with it.

[Jackk]

Ok who here is astonidhed by the or confused by the christian belief. I for one am confused. I mean lots of it looks possible but i don't know. Like i believe in God and jesus and heaven but the other stuff is just to hard to explain. Genesis 1:1 god created the heavens and the earth in 7 days. I believe that god created it because the question is what created what, but then what created God? I found a passage explaining it and it says that God just is? What? Don't get me wrong but that's very weird in a way. Then the Bible. Pretty confusing stuff. I think Job they mention a sea monster named Leviathan the sea monster with blazing yellow eyes. What does that sound like. Loch Ness monster. that's a guess. But then there was another sea monster named Rhab a giant crab? The christaian religion is very confusing but i guess i always find a sence of comphort when i think of it.

The Christian religion is based on the actions and words of one man, Jesus Christ, believed to be the son of god, correct? Well if this is so then why, for thousands of years did the christian religion inspire fear and hatred in not only non-believers, but also their own believers. The Catholic faith in particular is one of the worst, for hudreds of years dominating and terrorizing the peoples of Europe, inspiring made up fears of a devil that has no real bases in fact, and even inspiring several bloody wars over a "holy" land.
The Christian faith also has no bases in fact and directly contradicts the sciences, who have discovered facts about both evolution and the creation of the earth, which the christian faith tries to attribute to god. The christian faith was made to explain things that, at the time, seemed unexplainable. Now that we have discovered the explaination to our questions (or most of them) we should either get rid of that faith, or update it so that it doesn't seem so old.

[RichardE40k]

The Christian faith is not completely based on the actions and word of Jesus Christ. That is the New Testament; a lot of the Christian faith is based on the Old Testament about creation, the Garden of Eden, Noah and Cain and Able. And the reason Christians inspired hatred and pain towards non believers was one reason, power. The church during the medieval period of England ruled all; it was our government and system. They used images of hell to keep people in line just like many of our kings and queens have done. The Tudors killed thousands of Catholics and Protestants, both Christians just have a few differences, one following the pope, the other disregarding him all together. But it just depended who owned the throne, Henry the 8th created the church of England and his last living child Elizabeth the 1st followed this faith while “bloody Mary” converted the country back to Catholicism, it was a living hell for the British, protestants one minute, Catholics the next. Anyway during the medieval times, the church got medical books and great theories burned and destroyed so most were lost or scientists with great risk got them hidden away. With this system they were able to keep the power and control, and nothing was allowed to speak out against the theories of the bible, they made lots of money out of it and that's what it comes down to, money and power. It was only until the renaissance period of Europe did Britain start thinking again, and the church lost a lot of its power due to new ideas and technology. Religion will always have a power weather it is to dictate, persecute, control or make money. It's a much more complex system then beliefs and values; well that is what history has taught us anyway.

[Darth Tyranus]

Okay, you can say your beliefs, but kindly don't tell someone theirs are wrong.

This is the kind of situation where someone is right and someone is wrong. If i think I'm right, regardless of what I think wouldn't that make the other person wrong in my eyes no matter what?

[Jackk]

The Christian faith is not completely based on the actions and word of Jesus Christ. That is the New Testament; a lot of the Christian faith is based on the Old Testament about creation, the Garden of Eden, Noah and Cain and Able. And the reason Christians inspired hatred and pain towards non believers was one reason, power. The church during the medieval period of England ruled all; it was our government and system. They used images of hell to keep people in line just like many of our kings and queens have done. The Tudors killed thousands of Catholics and Protestants, both Christians just have a few differences, one following the pope, the other disregarding him all together. But it just depended who owned the throne, Henry the 8th created the church of England and his last living child Elizabeth the 1st followed this faith while “bloody Mary” converted the country back to Catholicism, it was a living hell for the British, protestants one minute, Catholics the next. Anyway during the medieval times, the church got medical books and great theories burned and destroyed so most were lost or scientists with great risk got them hidden away. With this system they were able to keep the power and control, and nothing was allowed to speak out against the theories of the bible, they made lots of money out of it and that's what it comes down to, money and power. It was only until the renaissance period of Europe did Britain start thinking again, and the church lost a lot of its power due to new ideas and technology. Religion will always have a power weather it is to dictate, persecute, control or make money. It's a much more complex system then beliefs and values; well that is what history has taught us anyway.

What you're saying is completly true. The church has always been hand in hand with the governments of Europe, especially England. The church used religion to inspire fear in their followers by creating the idea that they are the only link to god, and that if you don't do as god (a.k.a the church) commands you will be thrown into a pit of everlasting hellfire.
Protestanism and Catholicsm were the two major religions in England and throughout the ages created several bloody "purgings" of the other side. All of this leads me to believe that not only is the church not in the least holy, but also that if there was indeed a god he would not allow this kind of thing to happen in his name.